I helped people create awesome PDF eBooks. Along the way, I made many many friends and helped lots of people understand how to create an eBook that was interesting and that other people wanted to read.

Then I figured out how to help create and sell eBooks without sleazy marketing techniques. I also set out to learn how to help people design eCourses that get results.

I’ve learned a lot along the way. And here’s what I know now:

The best way to engage people, to get them to care about your ideas and become customers is to make awesome stuff and share it.

This means that the creative process is really driving your business.

You need creativity to market your business, attracting your audience and establishing thought leadership.

Think about everything you create to get your message out in the world. We are constantly being called upon to find new ideas and transmit them in interesting, engaging ways.

Here’s what I want to do with my content, products and consulting under my new brand:

• I want to help you make awesome stuff, written, visual or multimedia, that will bring the people and get them to care about your ideas.
• I want to help you distill your ideas down to their most powerful essence and communicate them in the clearest, most effective way possible.
• I want to help you ignite your creative thinking and be strategic about using it to achieve your objectives.

Because I believe we all have game-changing ideas within us, we just need a little help finding out exactly what they are and how to express them.

It’s not so much about the medium as the message. If you have something powerful to say and a clear way to express it, then how you get it to the world — PDFs, ePubs, videos, drawings, interpretive dance — is a simple choice of how best to get in front of the people you want to reach.

Please come join me on this new phase of the journey!

Here’s how to stay in the loop:

• Sign up for the good stuff. Upcoming issues will be about how to get inspired and the visual revolution. In the next couple months I’ll be announcing the launch of my new site and blog, as well as a new email series I’m calling Thought Leadership Starts Here. (Note to Sticky eBooks subscribers: you’re on the KKM list already. If you’re not sure, go ahead and subscribe, the system will automatically detect duplicates so you’re not barraged with email).
• Connect with KKM on Facebook. My Kelly Kingman Media Facebook page is where I post my own news, as well as interesting items I find around the web on creativity, content, publishing and thought leadership.
• Work with me. If you want to develop a content strategy to build your online presence, want to start building thought leadership and aren’t sure how to start, or simply feel like you could use more ideas for what to make and share with your people, please feel free to get in touch to see if I can help.

Warning! Procrastination has many guises. Don’t get so sidetracked by researching brainstorming techniques that you don’t write. 

If your goal is 50,000 words, you want to write:

1,667 per day

Every day in November, including Thanksgiving. Write more, take days off.

Why not stay up until midnight tonight and get a head start?

Block off time on your calendar, I like 2-hour chunks first thing in the day but you may need to be more flexible.

First, watch this 2-minute video:

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

Find a community

• Sign up at NaNoWriMo.org and participate in the NaNo Rebels forum.
• Connect with participants in your region and go to write-ins.
• Like Kelly Kingman Media on Facebook, join the Contentpalooza FB group, or search #contentpalooza on Twitter for daily tips.
• Follow @NaNoWordSprints on Twitter and play along with these timed writing bursts.

Blogging Inspiration

• How to Write a Year’s Worth of Posts in 30 Days (my Contentpalooza advice on Problogger)
• 52 Types of Blog Posts that Work
• Discover Hundreds of Post Ideas for Your Blog with Mind Mapping

eBooks & Manifesto tips

• How to Create Your Sales Page and eBook Outline at the Same Time (in 3 Easy Steps)
• Which eBook Pathway Are You On?
• How to Write a High Quality eBook in 30 Days
• 10 Tips for Writing a Sticky Manifesto

Ideas in General

• How to Develop an Endless Source of Ideas that Sell
• 21 Ways to Create Compelling Content When You Don’t Have a Clue
• The Sticky Content Blueprint
• The Art of Finding Ideas

Writing

Just Because

©2010 Horia Varlan

We’re 10 days away from Contentpalooza

On November 1, I’m kicking off a personal challenge of writing 50,000 words of content in 30 days, in parallel with NaNoWriMo. I plan to write a year’s worth of blog posts (52 at about 500 words each is 26,000 words) plus a manifesto, a workbook, an eBook draft, guest posts and who knows what else.

I’m calling this challenge Contentpalooza, and if you want to join me, come like my new Facebook page, where we already have a handful of people who are doing this, too. I’ll be posting writing prompts and discussing challenges throughout November — I’d be thrilled if you joined us!

I “won” NaNoWriMo last year, which means I successfully completed my 50,000 words — I was writing a memoir. Today I’d like to share with you the principles that will ensure your success during this challenge.

Let it be simple, because it is.

The rules of this challenge are: 1. Write 50,000 words 2. In 30 days. That’s it. That’s all that matters. And keeping it this simple is important to your success. As professional, ambitious grown-ups we tend to overthink this and put unnecessary, limiting criteria on ourselves — like it has to be good,  or it has to fit perfectly in our business plan, or — this is a big one — we have to know what we’re writing first. More criteria bring more excuses. Which brings me to…

Inspiration comes from the writing, not before.

The New York Times recently wrote about Joan Didion: “Possibly the best living American essayist and probably the most influential, Didion has always maintained that she doesn’t know what she’s thinking until she writes it down.” I’ve found this to be true, time and again — that I find out what I have to say by saying it (or writing it). Talking out loud to yourself on a walk or in the shower is great for this. Sure, we need a little inspiration to start, but if you have faith that when you ask your brilliant mind to fill in the blanks, it will.

Embrace the crap, keep going.

You’re going to think in the beginning that you want to polish and perfect everything as you go. This urge is death — avoid it at all costs. This is a sprint – you must keep going at a faster pace than you’re used to. Do not delete. If you must, highlight or underline your mistakes or what you want to cut and come back to it later. Think in terms of generating enormous piles of raw material which you can later prune.

I call this my “compost theory” of creativity. If we let ourselves write crap, the closer we’ll come to the good stuff. It all needs to come out, be processed, break down, recombine. Writing and editing are two distinct activities, and editing as you go lowers your word count and slows you down. With writing, we tend to snap back into school-mode and write like it’s English Comp 101. Let ‘er rip and see what happens. All those words count, even the misspelled ones.

Count everything.

You’re not a bad person if you count words outside of your project. Don’t be unnecessarily hard on yourself and insist that ONLY words you write specifically for the challenge count. It all counts. If you have other writing commitments during November — like reports for your day job or a paper for a course you’re taking — count those words. Last year, I was writing a weekly restaurant column during NaNo and I counted those words. It’s just a little detour, don’t beat yourself about it, you’re still doing a ton of writing you wouldn’t have done otherwise.

Go with friends.

The most important thing you can do for this challenge is to connect with others who are doing it, preferably in person. Even seasoned novelists find this pace and volume of writing a challenge. I first attempted this in 2002, but I was on my own, and after a week I just got distracted and busy. Meet in person or online specifically to sit and just write together — it looks a bit silly, since you’re not talking much — but it’s critical. When we connect with a group of people committed to the same goal, we are far, far more likely to focus and write. Join NaNoWriMo to find regional forums where you can meet others in your area, or join me for Contentpalooza on Facebook.

What do you need to do this?

It’s never a good time to do something big and crazy. We never have enough time, enough ideas, enough quiet. We have too much work, too many kids, too many obligations period. No judgements — this year may not be your time. I just want you to question what you think is possible.

Tell me in the comments below — what are the fears? What are your challenges?

Pick your own goal. How many words would represent your personal contentpalooza — 5,000? 10,000? 25,000?

I think of all the things I’ve experienced as a digital entrepreneur, launching a paid product has taught me the most about myself.

Because of the large number of variables in the success of a launch — when you launch, the price point, your affiliates’ responsiveness, the title of the product, so forth — putting a product out there for sale tends to trigger all sorts of perfectionism, anxiety and second-guessing as we struggle to control a process that is ultimately uncontrollable. Plus, if you’re at all uncomfortable with sales, self-promotion or growing your visibility, then all of these fears will come right up the minute you start to plan your launch. (If you struggle with the fear of visibility, check out Brand New Confidence, a new course starting soon from Pamela Wilson and Susan Johnstone.)

While some marketers would want you to believe otherwise, launching is much more of an art than science. While you can find metrics to obsess over — list growth, conversion rates and such — there’s just something too intangible about the way the events of a launch unfold and the reasons people ultimately decide to buy from you. You would need to launch the same product, in the same manner, at the same time of year for several years in order to establish some kind of norm. By that time, all the tactics and strategies with which people market online will have changed anyway.

Here are some guidelines that I stick to in my launches and in helping my clients with theirs. I hope they’ll inspire you to make the leap.

Do it for the money, but don’t do it for the money. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, launches are fun but they are not the path to a sustainable income. It’s enough of an emotional roller coaster (hitting refresh on your email every 10 seconds to see if you made another sale) without the added insanity of worrying if you’ll make your rent payment.

Really, really there are no rules. A launch is making something, giving people a way to buy it, and telling them about it. How you do any of that is up to you. Be creative.

Go small. We tend to get grand visions of multi-module programs with video, audio, mind maps and resource guides. More is not always better — for you and your consumer. Be careful of the content snowball effect — there are other ways to over-deliver than simply volume. This goes for bonuses, too.

Set a numerical intention. I ask clients to think of two numbers when we begin to plan their launch. First, I ask them to imagine a number of sales or enrollments that would make them feel their launch was a success — a sort of baseline. This way, after you make that number, you know you can celebrate. This could also include mailing list signups, not just paid transactions. The second is their “over the moon number” — this is the number for mind-blowing success. Write that number down and post it where you can see it daily.

Get a buddy. Everyone I know has had “sales page freak out.” This is especially common for first launches. You stay up all night, worrying about how you phrased something, if you forgot anything, if people are going to hate what you’re selling, if you’re crazy to even do this, what if no one buys it, and so forth. Trust me, it gets better. But until then, have someone you can call, text or Tweet at 4 A.M. who will talk you down.

Remove all barriers. This is close to a marketing mantra for me. Don’t make people work for anything. Do whatever you can to see through the eyes of the customer, to figure out how to make the path to buying a smooth, downhill run. Is it easy to understand? Is it clear where and when to click? This includes doing as much work as you possibly can for affiliates. The confused mind doesn’t buy, make it crystal clear every step of the way and remind remind remind.

Focus on fun. If you’re not having fun, chances are no one else is either. What could you do to make your own launch a delight to participate in — for you and others?

Let go. As much as we’d like to believe we do, we do not control the outcome. It’s your responsibility to ask people to make the choice whether or not they would like to purchase your product. It’s your responsibility to deliver a quality experience when they do. Other than that, other than trying, it’s really not up to you, so let go and enjoy the ride.

Tell me.

Would you add something to this list? What are your fears or mental obstacles to launching your next thing?

Disclaimer: I’ve included eBook Evolution in this roundup. Sure, I’m biased, also it’s not truly an eBook (there are lots of pieces to it). But before you dismiss this post as a sales pitch, know this: I don’t believe in convincing people they need things that they don’t.

There are no affiliate links in this post, either. Shamelessly promoting my own product is enough for one post, don’t you think?

Epic eBook Creation

By Jonathan Wondrusch, ByBloggers.net

Price: Free

Format: eBook, 90 pages, plus worksheets

I’m calling it: The Cool Kid Approach 

Breakdown:

• Pages 5-12: Finding a topic, choosing a title
• Pages 13-25: Writing and research
• Pages 26-62: Design, layout, production
• Pages 63-72: Launch and promotion
• Pages 73-86: Special sauce: delivering “wow” and breaking the rules

Pearl of Wisdom from Epic eBook Creation:

Break the rules. If you make an amazing product, people will take notice. Just following the rules isn’t usually enough to garner widespread attention.

Strengths: 

• Production value. Jonathan is a special breed — talented designer with a light, natural writing style.
• Design-focused. Comprehensive advice on design and production.
• Discusses free releases in addition to paid products.
• Inspiring. Interviews and case studies with people like Mars Dorian and Adam Baker inspire you to follow your own path and encourages you to write about what matters, not just about what will be profitable.

Weaknesses:

• Small launch section. Light on launch strategies, skims over affiliate programs, key to a great paid launch.
• Very little sales page creation advice.
• Crash course in design is a bit abstract. While some people will be able to absorb and implement this, it’s hard to turn someone into a designer in a few pages.

Conclusion: Jonathan gets it. A key point buried in this eBook is: “You are creating an experience. Make it a good one.” I couldn’t agree more. Jonathan is coming out with a premium eBook creation super kit soon, and he has lots more of great eBook advice on his blog, ByBloggers.net. Epic eBook Creation is a free bonus for signing up for his list.

The Blogger’s Guide to Irresistible eBooks

By Ali Luke, of Aliventures.com

Price: $29

Format: eBook, 107 pages, plus 2 MS Word Templates with user guide

I’m calling it: The Technical Approach

Breakdown:

• Pages 10-28: Finding a marketable idea and outlining.
• Pages 29-52: Writing and redrafting.
• Pages 53-74: Polishing the text, packaging including cover, bonuses.
• Pages 75-105: E-junkie, sales page writing, promotion strategies.
• 2 MS Word Templates

Pearl of Wisdom from The Blogger’s Guide to Irresistible eBooks:

…a ‘comprehensive’ ebook is a huge challenge. If you’re trying to create the definitive work in your field, you’re likely to get stuck after a chapter or two. Plus, it’s hard to make a clear sales pitch for an ebook that covers everything under the sun. 

Strengths:

• Experience. Ali’s written a dozen ebooks, some free and some paid, and coached others through writing theirs.
• Honest. Ali’s transparent, sharing her own experiences including mistakes.
• In-depth on research tactics to find your idea including how to run a survey.
• Writerly. Very in-depth to guide to writing, including thoughts on style and revising.
• Includes practical guidance on writing your sales page.

Weaknesses:

• Lacks attention to design and formatting which could improve readability.
• Length and level of detail can feel overwhelming.
• MS Word templates are lackluster, not professionally designed.
• Launch and promotion content is not as fleshed out as the writing advice.
• Could really use worksheets or other organizational tools to help with planning a launch.

Conclusion: Ali’s a very detail-oriented, conscientious writer — she nails thorough content and step-by-step instruction. Still, I felt some readers who are “quickstarts” like myself would benefit from a kind of roadmap or bigger picture. And while I wholeheartedly agree that you don’t need to wait until you can afford a professional designer to get your eBook out there, I think it’s becoming more essential every day to spend time getting the look right — not just as “packaging” to improve sales but to improve engagement. Grab it here.

How to Write an eBook That Doesn’t Suck

by Michael Martine, Remarkablogger.com

Price: $19.99

Format: eBook, 64 pages, video on covers, audio version

I’m calling it: The Chilled-Out Approach

Best bonus: Step-by-step cover design video

Breakdown:

• Pages 8-14: Why eBooks are still a good idea for bloggers.
• Pages 15-24: Topic, getting content, writing.
• Pages 25-36: Formatting and packaging.
• Pages 37-63: Promotion, reviews and sales pages.

Pearl of Wisdom from How to Write an eBook That Doesn’t Suck:

…you’ll find you don’t know half as much as you think about something until you try and teach it to someone else. And after you teach it, you’ll be truly twice the expert you once were.

Strengths:

• Brief, a good overview.
• Explores how selling an eBook will drive traffic for your blog.
• Easy to read, funny at times.
• Easy breezy sales copy instruction.

Weaknesses:

• It’s relatively brief and feels like many stones are left unturned.
• Blogger-specific. If you blog for business but aren’t “a blogger” you may feel a disconnect.
• It can feel a little like the whole thing is a lead up for the Un-sucky eBook Boot Camp pitch at the end.
• May leave more technically-minded readers with more questions.

Conclusion: Martine is a proponent of repurposing blog content, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, per se, some readers may feel like this eBook is a repeat of stuff they’ve read. Still, he’s a seasoned problogger who knows his niche, and it’s not so expensive that you don’t have to worry too much about making your investment back. Grab it here. 

How to Launch the **** Out of Your eBook

by Dave Navarro and Naomi Dunford

Price: $97

Format: eBook, ?? pages. Other?

I’m calling it: The Niche Marketing Approach

Breakdown:

• Pages 7-13: Analyzing the market
• Pages 15-23: Finding buyers, includes how to set up a blog.
• Pages 27-36: Setting up a mailing list and using auto-responders
• Pages 37-52: Writing the eBook, including outlining and productivity tips.
• Pages 54-94: Launching, including sales pages, affiliates and pre-launch buzz.
• Pages 97-113 Worksheets

Pearl of Wisdom from How to Launch the **** Out of Your eBook:

Remember, you’re more than an ebook – you’re a personality, a history, an angle. Get behind that angle (or Unique Selling Proposition, if you’re fancy) and capture your own slice of the market. There’s always room for one more.

Strengths:

• It’s thorough, almost to a fault, and the launch section is where Dave excels.
• Both authors have a history of successful launches.
• The worksheets are helpful in feeling organized and brainstorming.
• Jaunty writing style makes it easy to read.

Weaknesses:

• The first half covers basic information like how to start a blog and how to set up an auto-responder.
• Dave states a lot of things as “musts” and I found they tend to trigger perfectionism.
• It’s not the most visually appealing reading experience.

Conclusion: Even at 3 years old and despite recent controversy around it’s authors, this guide is still probably the most comprehensive launch breakdown you’ll get. While I cover tons of launch material in the 68-page guide I wrote for eBook Evolution, Dave is good at breaking things down into a step-by-step sequence that can be useful. Still, the approach can feel pretty old-school — 3 years is like a decade in Internet years — and social media has come to play an even bigger role. Grab it here.

eBook Evolution

by Kelly Kingman & Pamela Wilson

Price: $147

Format: 2 eBooks totaling 109 pages, 2 OpenOffice templates, 4 worksheets, 20 cover design recipes and 6 interior page design recipes, plus instructional screencasts.

I’m calling it: The Evolutionary Approach, or Sophisticated but Laid-back.

Breakdown:

eBook Evolution is not an eBook but a collection of information and tools.

• The Sticky eBook Formula: Coming up with idea, making it stickier, writing strategies, getting it done.
• The eBook Evolution Launch Guide: All about launching, affiliate programs, promotion and leveraging social media.
• Open Office templates with screencast: Creating as many eBooks as you want.
• Cover Recipes and Page Design Recipes: Detailed, step-by-step instructions on creating more customized looks for your cover and pages, without any design experience necessary.
• Worksheets and Planners: Organize your launch plan and stay on schedule.

Pearl of Wisdom from the eBook Evolution Launch Guide:

The more work you can do to make each step easy for people — your affiliates and buyers — the better your launch will go.

Strengths:

Oh c’mon — I could go on and on! But here are highlights.

• Takes guesswork out of DIY design.
• Templates use OpenOffice, a free program that’s easy to learn and compatible with Mac or PC
• You can create and update an unlimited number of eBooks yourself.
• Launch advice is based on relationships and not high pressure tactics, great for the more marketing-averse.

Weaknesses:

• There are a lot of components and information, despite the Quickstart Guide some may find it a bit overwhelming.
• The FAQ format of the launch guide doesn’t go chronologically through a launch.
• Despite our best efforts at making it easy, some people may not want to go through the learning process to do the layout themselves.

Conclusion: This is the hardest part to write, because Pamela and I really made deliberate choices about what went into this. If you’re interested in investing a little time in making your eBook look great, it can save you hundreds of dollars. Also, I really wrote the two eBooks — the Sticky eBook Formula and the eBook Evolution Launch Guide — for an audience that knows there are more benefits to launching than just the dollar amount. Great for coaches, consultants and bloggers who want gorgeous, well-written eBooks on a DIY budget and successful launches without the high-pressure marketing techniques. Grab it here.

In Closing

Whew! You made it to the end! Congratulations!

These products all fall on a spectrum, and maybe one or two of them will be more right for you than the others. I hope that my subjective appraisal will allow you to make a more informed choice, if you’re in the market for eBook advice and tools.

Can’t decide? You can pick them all up for a grand total of $292.99 and be done with it.

I had the pleasure of hearing Les McKeown speak just a few weeks ago at Book Breakthrough. Book Breakthrough is a three-day workshop in New York City led by publishing strategists Janet Goldstein and Elizabeth Marshall. It’s all about finding and honing your book idea, building your platform and evaluating your publishing pathways. It was an incredible event and completely over-delivered on my expectations. One of the brightest highlights was a talk given by leading business consultant and bestselling author, Les McKeown.

Les took us through his own publishing journey with his characteristic crackling humor. Years before his latest book, Predictable Success (which he self-published with Greenleaf Book Group) hit the Wall Street Journal bestseller list, Les had authored a book for a major publisher on human resource management, a subject he knew a lot about but held little allure for him long-term.

This brought him to the first bit of impeccable wisdom he shared with those in attendance, (imagine this said in a charming Irish accent):

If you like gourmet chocolate, don’t open a Seven Eleven.

The last time I checked the closest you get to gourmet chocolate at a Seven Eleven is a dark chocolate Snickers. Les’ commercially-published HR book, while a feather in his cap, was his Seven Eleven. Seven Elevens, Les said, are fine businesses. They were good enough work, but not the stuff of his dreams.

Why am I talking about book publishing and chocolate?

Because I’m shifting course. Back in February at the fabulous LiftOff Retreat (which I highly recommend), I had a chance to to stop thinking about my business as something that could succeed enough to pay the bills and begin to think about it as a way to, as Charlie Gilkey likes to say, do epic shit. This meant designing a business around the ideas I want to spread and the difference I want to make. This was big — bigger than eBooks.

Beyond the medium, into the message.

I really don’t care about eBooks for eBooks’ sake. They are a format, a medium. Like DVDs are to movies, or MP3s for music.

While the technical format has implications and advantages, what’s interesting is what’s inside. What’s interesting is the idea that you want to spread.

Messages have power. When you know what you want to tell the world, the medium is a technical choice. eBooks are just the candy wrapper, the good stuff inside is what people want.

In the not too distant future, I will be unveiling my new brand, Kelly Kingman Media. KKM will focus on helping you find the ideas you want to spread, helping you make them more spreadable and get them out in the world. Kelly Kingman Media will be my gourmet chocolate.

What do you want to say to the world that you haven’t been saying?

What’s your gourmet chocolate?

1. Figure out which ideas you’re most passionate about sharing.
2. Discover which ideas resonate with your audience.
3. Test and get feedback on your solutions.
4. Learn how to break down your information into bite size pieces.
5. Give bloggers a reason to interview you.
6. Give bloggers something to review and generate affiliate income.
7. Add “author of” to your about page.
8. Let prospects sample  your style before hiring you.
9. Build your reputation as a thought leader for your industry/niche.
10. Learn how to launch a product – free or paid.
11. Motivate people to join your tribe.
12. Propose a solution to a problem.
13. Build a network of affiliates who will promote future products.
14. It’s an excuse to have a Twitter party.
15. It shows you’re serious about your field.
16. Build buzz and visibility around your brand.
17. Become known as someone who creates quality, engaging content.
18. It gives you a reason to interview key players in your niche.
19. It gives you a reason for those key players to talk about you.
20. You can offer it to new clients and customers as a thank you.
21. Bundle it with another product or service to boost sales or visibility.
22. Contribute it as a bonus to others’ product offerings.
23. Give a potential joint venture partner a positive impression.
24. Invite readers to validate your advice.
25. Ask fans and existing customers for testimonials.
26. Practice making something that will spread virally.
27. You don’t need to acquire special software or equipment to create one.
28. PDFs are a near-universal format and relatively small in file size.
29. Post it to Amazon and document sharing sites to bring even more visibility.
30. Springboard to a bigger publishing project, like a physical book.
31. Practice shipping.

The term “summer reading” implies fun, light fiction — those paperbacks in your beach bag. For me, at this slower time of the year, new ideas from business, science and culture can be just as refreshing. I have time to just let them soak in, without having to rush to the next item on my to do list.

The resources I’ve listed below are my picks for “serious” summer reading that will get you thinking outside the blogs. Some aren’t even reading at all. I hope they are equal parts escape and inspiration for you. Enjoy!

Brain Pickings

Maria Popova is a writer and the “curious mind at large” behind this weekly newsletter packed with intellectual curiosities. Check out her roundup of 5 great TED Talks celebrating their 5th anniversary, delve into 5 Manifestos for Life. She recently wrote about 7 Platforms Changing the Future of Publishing. You could spend your entire summer enjoying the delicious selection of media and cultural commentary she serves up.

National Geographic

I recently rediscovered the wonder of this amazing resource. So timeless, yet endlessly new, National Geographic magazine really is a national treasure. Growing up, we had entire shelves in our family room solid with the yellow spines of National Geographics, years of issues. In this information economy, few of us are really grounded in history and nature, two areas where National Geographic excels. From climate change and marine biology, to rethinking the origins of religion,  reading some of the delicious features and taking in the mind-blowing photography will show you the world on a grand scale, and maybe change your idea of how you fit within it. Browse the recent feature articles.

The 99 Percent 2011 Conference Takeaways

The 99 Percent is a wonderful website, a lush resource of inspiration. The 2011 conference takeaways offer a smorgasbord of bite-sized wisdom. From Aaron Dignan, author of Game Frame, talking about play — “All great experiences that engage us have an element of uncertainty at their core” to Starlee Kine, a producer for This American Life (also wonderful brain food for summer) saying “If you find something that you feel you belong to, become a groupie and a fan, and then a critic.” And so much more.

RSAnimate Videos

RSA is this British think-tank that I can’t quite figure out, whose tagline is “Ideas and actions for a 21st century enlightenment.” They have a really cool collection of videos that show a sped-up cartoonist’s hand drawing out the concepts of great idea-driven books like Drive and the Paradox of Choice. This is not only often humorous and engaging, when we associate images with words, it improves our recall of those ideas astronomically.

Design Thinking Toolkit from IDEO

I actually just stumbled across this resource the other day, the Design Thinking Toolkit for Educators. It’s a publication of IDEO, the premier design and innovation consultancies in the world today. The toolkit breaks down a design-oriented mindset to problem solving in five steps: discovery, interpretation, ideation, experimentation and evolution. Most of us are not facing challenges as complex as those being met by the educational system, but design thinking is about the method and not the content of the challenges. Simplify the exercises and see if you can use them to define and find unusual solutions to a challenge you’re facing in your life or business.

Here’s a snippet from the section “Find Inspiration in New Places” on page 45:

Think of analogies that connect with your challenge. With your team, list all the activities, emotions, and behaviors that make up the experience of your challenge. Next to each of these areas, write down other situations where in similar experiences occur. As a team, select the scenarios that you would like to observe. For example, if you are looking to re-envision arrival and departure procedures at your school, consider observing the lobby of a busy yet elegant hotel.

Make room for your own new ideas, too.

Rest and relaxation is essential for creativity and after a long stint of producing content and launching new products, I’m looking forward to some non-verbal time — being in nature and getting out doing stuff in the offline world. But I’m also looking forward to broadening my information and media horizons as a way to cross-pollinate ideas of my own with from different niches and disciplines. To do this, you need space and time. Shut down the email and follow your curiosity — make sure you’ve got a notebook!

What ideas are you soaking up this summer?

Which first: fame or fortune?

When I first talk with a new client about the eBook they want to write, we discuss their desired outcomes — would they like more clients, revenue stream, increased visibility, expert status? I find that most outcomes can be loosely grouped under either fame or fortune. I define fame as traffic, pageviews, downloads, buzz, press or mentions. It’s about an intention to get in front of as many people as possible. Fortune includes clients, sales, building your email list for future sales, basically anything directly related to revenue generation.

You can have both — eventually. Certainly fame often leads to fortune.  But each requires a different strategy and different eBook pathways, and knowing which you want first will help you pick the right one for you.

Fame Pathways: Viral, Mainstream

Fortune Pathways: Opt-In and Product

Pathway #1: Viral

You know the way that dandelion seeds spread on the breeze when you blow on them?  Viral eBooks are like those seeds — when you set your content free, it spreads. A widely-read, smart viral ebook can connect you not only to your target audience and future fans, but give you traction with your industry peers and get you on the radar of some larger players in your niche.

The game of the viral ebook is visibility. David Meerman Scott, who built his first print book deal on the success of his viral eBook, estimates that 50 times more people will consume your content if you don’t ask for contact information.

Seth Godin is famous for his viral eBooks, but it works for “the little guys,” too. Pamela and I have seen close to 800 downloads of our eBook Evolution Manifesto in the two weeks since we released it. I interviewed Mark McGuiness on this blog about how his eBook has been downloaded 80,000 times over the past three years. Chris Guillebeau’s meteoric rise to fame with 278 Days to World Domination is now stuff of Internet legend.

Recommended Resources:

• Unleashing the Ideavirus by Seth Godin
• World Wide Rave by David Meerman Scott
• 10 Tips for writing a Sticky Manifesto, my post
• ChangeThis.com, a showcase of great manifestos

Pathway #2: Mainstream

I use “mainstream” to describe eBooks that are distributed via major retail channels like Amazon.com and BN.com. These eBooks are not PDF files, but are formatted specifically to be read on devices like the Kindle or iPad. Whether you are self published, a mainstream eBook is on the digital equivalent of the bookstore shelves. Mainstream eBooks rarely sell for more than $12.99 and you receive no buyer contact information.

The appeal of this pathway is that it feels more like traditional publishing and lends credibility and reach to your material. For the self-publisher, whether it’s a print book or an eBook, access to online retail outlets is almost immediate compared to the often headache-ridden process of getting into brick and mortar stores.

From a marketing stand point, this pathway can be more similar to marketing a traditionally published eBook. You’re competing against all the other books, published and self-published, in the online bookstore. These eBooks tend to be full-length, in the neighborhood of 50,000 words and up. You will want to take pains to present your eBook professionally, both in format and in content.

Recommended Resources:

• Publishing Reset Program by Janet Goldstein
• How to get your ebook on Amazon and iBookstore, my post
• Instant Bestseller Formula from Out:Think Group
• TribalAuthor.com from Jonathan Fields
• eBook Ninjas podcast by Joshua Tallent

Pathway #3: Opt-In

This is a familiar one to most of us. That free report or guide or workbook that we trade our email address for? That’s the opt-in eBook. It could be a one-page checklist or a 50-page manual, but the idea is to incentivize someone to give up their contact info in exchange for it. One fun trend I’m seeing is the rise of the PDF magazine instead of the HTML email newsletter. Andrew Hayes’ SHERPA magazine is a fun read and visually rich. It’s a novel way to pack a bunch of useful, interesting content into a readable format. I know I’ll get a high quality product once a month, instead of being overwhelmed with email.

The opt-in is where you can be creative and have some fun. Bundle a worksheet with an audio download, or make it a printable collection of puzzles and games that also convey useful content.

Recommended Resources:

• Free Fans Kit from InTreehouses
• Sonia Simone’s Copyblogger post on creating “cookie content.”
• Give away the tip of your content iceberg, my post on the line between free and paid

Pathway #4: Product

The product eBook’s success hinges on the answer to one question: what’s in it for me? What results will you reader get from purchasing, consuming and acting on the information you provide? Maybe it’s as ephemeral as entertainment and inspiration or as concrete as muscle mass or cold, hard cash. Whatever your topic, think benefits, benefits, benefits. People don’t give money away without a clear sense of how their life will be better as a result. I advise people who are just starting out to choose one specific problem to solve. If you struggle with that, one simple way to find product eBook ideas is to look at your FAQ’s — which questions to people ask you again and again about your area of expertise?

Recommended resources:

• The Sticky eBook Formula (it’s included when you buy eBook Evolution!)
• How to Start Making Real Money with Products in 3 Days from the launch coach, Dave Navarro.
• Marketing a Successful eBook, post by Paul Cunningham, BloggingTeacher.com
• Epic eBook Creation from Jonathan Wondrusch at ByBloggers.net

Hybrid Approaches

There are ways to have your fame cake and eat your fortune cake, too. Create a viral, sticky manifesto and at the end mention your opt-in eBook offer. While your viral eBook could detail your philosophical framework for solving a problem, the opt-in offer will supply actionable steps. The opt-in eBook can be followed a few weeks later with an email about your product offering. Even the mainstream eBook can include a blurb about your newsletter at the end, with instructions on how to sign up. Make sure that you provide a clear, strong call to action within your viral or mainstream eBook and the links you use don’t change.

#1, #3, #4 = eBook Evolution

If you want to create an eBook to give away, offer as an opt-in goodie or sell, eBook Evolution is your all-in-one toolkit. We’ve been hearing people are thrilled to be able to have a complete DIY solution for great looking eBooks. One buyer even took an idea and turned it into an 18-page eBook in 5 hours! The launch sale price ends tomorrow, so grab your copy today!

{Note: This is a guest post from Pamela Wilson of BigBrandSystem.com}

You know what a badly-designed eBook looks like. You even know what it feels like.

• You cringe when you open the book and see grey, unending walls of text.
• You find yourself yawning, rubbing your eyes and trying hard to pay attention.
• You look for any excuse to take a break and walk away. (Time for another coffee, anyone?)

And you know what a well-designed eBook looks and feels like, too.

• You look forward to sitting down and absorbing the information it shares.
• You engage with the material, and not only understand it but find yourself ready to take action based on what you’ve read.
• You look forward to reading the eBook again when you have to put it down.

Design can make or break how your information is perceived, understood and absorbed.

Give your words the best chance by using these six design techniques for your next eBook project:

1. Wide open spaces invite the reader in

One of the most effective ways to entice your reader to spend time with your pages is something that should be your very first step as you set up your document: wide borders.

A wide border of white space around your information has the same function as a matte around a piece of art. It sets it off, makes it easier to see and directs your eyes to look at it.

For a letter-sized sheet, a minimum border size should be .75″ or about 2 cm on all sides, but even wider is better.

2. Page headings and numbers are welcome guides

When your eBook is long, or is one of a series, you want to be sure your reader doesn’t get lost in the information.

One way to do this is to provide “guides” along the way in the form of page numbers and page headers. If your eBook is long, you can set up your page header to include the chapter name so your reader always knows where they are in the context of the larger eBook.

3. Subheads are power pellets

Did you ever play Pac Man? In the game, the Pac Man figure runs around a maze gobbling up dots. Every so often he gobbles a “power pellet,” which boosts his abilities.

You can build “power pellets” into your eBook very easily in the form of subheads. Every time your reader arrives at a subhead, it resets their attention, and refocuses them on the text below.

Be sure to write your subheads with the same care you use for your eBook title. Readers often skim through pages before they read in detail, and subheads give them a glimpse of what’s in store on the page.

That “pre-read” should entice them to read further, and well-written, compelling subheads will do just that.

4. Break down paragraphs to make them easy to digest

Because many eBooks never make it to print and are only read on screen, it’s a good idea to write them with comfortable screen reading in mind.

It’s harder to keep your place when you read on a screen, so long paragraphs are hard to follow. Try keeping your paragraphs short, and break up your copy with occasional one-line paragraphs.

One-line paragraphs may sound strange, but try them: you might like them!

5. Bulleted lists break down the walls

When you have many points to make within a paragraph, rather than writing a long block of text with comma after comma, set your information up in a bulleted list. Why?

• Bulleted lists are easy to digest
• Information presented in bullet form is faster to skim
• Creating bulleted lists automatically injects a little more white space into your page
• See what I mean?

You shouldn’t turn every paragraph into a bulleted list. Too much of the same thing isn’t a good idea when it comes to publication design. But an occasional bulleted list is a great way to add variety, break down those grey walls of text and make your pages look more inviting.

6. Color adds spice

We’re used to seeing paper book pages printed with black ink. Black text on a white page offers superior readability.

That doesn’t mean adding color is a bad idea, though. It’s not done in print books very often because it’s expensive. Lucky for us, adding color to an eBook doesn’t cost anything, and can boost the appeal of your page dramatically.

Color can be daunting if you haven’t used it much. Here’s how to use it to make attractive pages that look cohesive and readable:

• Choose two main colors in addition to your black text, and use them consistently throughout your pages
• Set color expectations starting at your cover by introducing your two main colors there
• Apply color to subheads to make them “pop” on a page
• Consider using color for page headers or rule lines that repeat throughout the document

Carefully applying color to your eBook pages will take them from bland to enticing. Your pages won’t look like unending grey walls when they’re broken up with touches of color throughout.

You can lead a horse to water…

Of course, none of this design advice will help you if you haven’t created enticing text to read. You can make it look great with these tips, but if your information isn’t useful and interesting to your readers, they won’t stick with it.

That’s where Kelly Kingman’s advice comes in. Our product — eBook Evolution ‚ takes care of both the writing and design portions of an eBook project.

Here’s what you’ll find in eBook Evolution:

• Kelly shares in-depth guidance on how to write an eBook your audience will want to read in her Sticky eBook Formula.
• The eBook Evolution templates that I designed — using my 24+ years of publication design experience — make creating beautiful eBook pages a snap.
• Kelly’s marketing expertise shines through in her eBook Launch Guide, which walks you through the process of getting that amazing eBook you’ve created into the hands of the people who need it.
• We’re even including a Cover Recipe Book, which includes instructions for creating 20 stunning eBook covers right within OpenOffice Writer.

Kelly and I are thrilled to bring you this all-in-one solution for writing, creating and launching your eBooks, to help beginning eBook authors accelerate their eBook success. Check it out here.

Pamela Wilson owns the Big Brand System, where she helps businesses grow with great design and marketing.